Data is at the center of every application, process, and business decision—it’s the fuel for innovation and business growth. Advanced analytics, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and now generative AI have put a renewed emphasis on extracting value from data. But harnessing the value of your data isn’t easy. Managing diverse use cases, data types, and evolving needs requires more than a single database, data lake, warehouse, or business intelligence service. It requires thinking holistically and understanding how to make your data work together so you can put it to work for your organization. We encourage you to look first at the problem area you want to address and the outcomes you want to achieve. From there, work backward to understand how you can use data and AI to drive results in the targeted area.